The intention of the assessments in this course is to prepare and familiarize students with the types of skills and techniques that will be foundational for their emerging role as a practicing scientist. In this spirit, collaboration is encouraged and assessments should be considered open for discussion and clarification at any time.
Written Assignment
Peer review is a critical pillar of science. This assignment models both our class discussions and the peer review process.
For the written assignment, students will select a research paper from the course material and be asked to critically analyze the manuscript in the form of a peer review and provide reasons why the authors conclusions do, or do not, match the evidence presented. Students may also select their own papers, from pre-prints at bioRxiv or chemRxiv; pre-approval from the instructors is required. Students who select an Rxiv paper will have the option to submit their review as a community commentary on the work. The word limit will be 1000 words and figures are encouraged. However, screenshots and direct copying of figures is discouraged, unless the data cannot be re-illustrated (e.g. gels, spectral data). This midterm assignment is due on Week 6.
The assignment should include the following points:
- A summary of what the authors set out to examine, how they attempted to test their hypotheses and the conclusions that were reached (~250 words).
- A description of the key experiments used in the manuscript (what was tested and how, what controls were used or missing, and what the outcomes were) and a critique (did this experiment contribute significantly to the conclusions of the paper). These should focus on the main figures although supplementary information (SI) figures and experiments might also be useful, to the critique. This section should be the main focus of the assignment (~500 words).
- Suggestion of an experiment that would further test, confirm or develop the main findings of the paper. This section should include a brief overview of the method proposed, the expected alternative possible results from and interpretations of the proposed experiment, and justification for selecting this method (~250 words).
Final Oral Presentation
Students will be required to prepare a short (15 minute) oral presentation about a research article of their choosing. This can be a published primary research or method paper, or a preprint article. The chosen paper should relate to one of the subject topics discussed during the course and must be submitted to the instructors for pre-approval at least two weeks in advance (deadline for selecting is by end of class on Week 10). The presentation will be followed by a discussion wherein the presenter will answer questions from their peers and instructors. The presentation should:
- briefly introduce the general topic surrounding the research and describe the contribution the research attempts to make towards this topic,
- give an overview of the key experiments and how they were controlled, and key findings, and most importantly,
- provide a critical evaluation of the work with an emphasis on how the experimentation supports
the aims of the authors. The oral presentations will take place in the final class on Week 13.
The presentation should use no more than 12 slides (including the title slide). The presentation should be formatted as follows:
- A title slide featuring the manuscript name, authors listed + affiliation, journal name and date of publication.
- 2 - 3 slides introducing the topic and the research question.
- 4 - 5 slides featuring the key experiments, controls and results (utilizing figures from the paper).
- 2 - 3 slides presenting a critique of the work, supported with techniques, controls, or alternative experiments that might enhance the findings of the paper; this is the most important aspect of the presentation.
